Date: Wednesday, July 19, 2000
Time: 9:45pm EST
A group of teenagers were walking down the street, looking for a nightclub that they might not have visited before. Then, without warning, one of them fell flat onto the ground as if pushed from the front. None of the others had done it, and before they had time to think, another one of them hit the ground. Now panic was starting to set in, they scattered. Some of them were taken down by the invisible force, knocked unconscious upon impact with the solid concrete. Two of them managed to escape the force and find their way to a pay-phone.
"Who ya gonna call?" asked Jon.
"Who do you think?" replied Nick.
"Uhhhh..."
"The GHOSTBUSTERS, you moron!" exclaimed Nick.
"Oh... I knew that, I just wanted to see if you would complete the cliché," said Jon.
Time: 9:46pm EST
The firehouse was quiet most of the night. Only a couple of class 2 roaming vapors. Nothing that could harm the well-trained Extreme Ghostbusters.
Currently, the EGBs were lounging in the rec room. Kylie and Eduardo had decided not to hide their love for each other anymore and were cuddled up comfortably on the couch watching TV. Garrett sat in his wheelchair at the opposite end of the couch, slightly disturbed by Ed and Ky's open display of affection. Gar wanted to stay as far away from them as possible when they were like this. As for Roland, he was in another world, absorbed in his laptop.
Despite what Garrett thought, they really did make a cute couple. Eduardo wrapped his arms around her tightly and she returned the embrace, as she snuggled her head into his chest. Eduardo always seemed as if he was protecting her from something. Even though Kylie could take care of herself, and had on occasion been Eduardo's savior, she didn't object to his chivalry.
Garrett just continued to watch TV, completely ignoring the public displays of affection being expressed only feet from him. On the bright side, Eduardo didn't channel-surf nearly as much as he used to.
Roland was completely unaware of the actions around him, he was too engulfed in what he was doing on the internet. Due to Garrett's inability to use a computer without taking out his aggressions on it, Roland was working on the Extreme Ghostbusters' Homepage. A very complex task indeed. He had dug up records dating from when they first opened, in 1984, to now: 16 years later. This should get them noticed around the world, perhaps enough so that they might start an entire chain of Ghostbusters facilities in the distant future.
Suddenly all their minds snapped back from their different directions to a single one, toward the ringing phone.
"Ghostbusters, how may I help you?" they heard Janine ask from downstairs.
Several seconds later...
RIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG...
Like always, they welcomed the sound and the promise of action that it brought.
They rushed down the stairs. After getting the address from Janine, they got into the Ecto-1 and quickly left the building to get to the call.
Time: 9:55pm EST
They quickly arrived on the scene. Garrett was the first to exit the vehicle, ready to kick ghost butt. Roland, Kylie, and Eduardo emerged seconds later.
Roland walked over to the nearest pay-phone looking for the people that had called them. Nearby, Kylie and Eduardo took PKE readings.
Roland found two boys, approximately 19 years of age.
"I'm glad you're here. I wanna get that thing that took out Jeff, Kurt, Matt, and James," said Nick.
"What was it exactly that you saw?" asked Roland.
"Well, we were just walking down the street, not looking for any trouble or anything. Just looking for some new clubs to hang out at. Then out of nowhere... BANG! Matt goes down and is out cold when he hits the sidewalk. Then Jeff and Kurt went down. The last thing we saw was James hitting the ground," replied Nick.
"We've got something, guys," said Kylie.
"What is it? A class 7... oooh, let it be a class 7!" said Garrett.
"Worse, it's a full blown class 9," replied Kylie.
"ALL RIGHT! Where is it? Let me at it!" exclaimed Garrett.
"I think it's gone, Garrett," said Kylie.
"It figures, we come all the way out here and when we finally get here, there's no action!" said Garrett.
"Wait a minute! I'm getting something... it's coming... RIGHT AT US!"
The sound of three proton packs powering up was the reply. Kylie joined them and stood at the ready by Eduardo's side, proton gun in one hand, PKE meter in the other.
Seconds passed...
"Well... where is it?" asked Eduardo.
"It should be within a one-yard radius." stated Kylie.
As if to answer Eduardo's question, Kylie was suddenly knocked down by an invisible force. If it weren't for Eduardo, she would have slammed hard into the pavement.
"Kylie, are you all right?" Eduardo asked.
"Uhhhhh... what hit me? Yeah, I'm fine, Eduardo. Thanks for breaking my fall," replied Kylie.
"C'mon where is it? Why can't we see it?" asked Garrett, frustration in his voice.
Suddenly the sound of metal being sliced through, as if by a knife, was heard to their left. They turned around just in time to see a lamp post falling down on them. They were just barely able to dodge it. Sparks flew as the light shattered on the street. Luckily none of them were hurt. Then the sound of laughter filled the air, and they looked around to see where it was coming from, but again saw just empty sky. The PKE meter quieted down as the unseen entity apparently left the scene.
"Whatever is was, it's gone now," Kylie said, as she looked at her PKE meter.
"So what do we do now?" asked Roland.
"We go back to the firehouse and report to Egon," replied Kylie.
Time: 10:25pm EST
"...and that's what happened," finished Kylie.
"Hmmm... Very interesting. Let me take a look at these PKE readings," said Egon.
Kylie gave him the PKE meter she used on the demon.
"Hmmm. I will need some time to study these, but I can tell you, I have never seen readings like this before. You should all go home and get some rest, I'll need all night to study these. Report back here at 7:00 AM," stated Egon.
No one had any objections to that, they could all use some sleep. Garrett and Roland went downstairs and Roland gave him a ride home. Leaving only Kylie and Eduardo.
"Care for a late dinner?" Eduardo asked.
"Sure," Kylie said with a smile.
"Where do you want to go?"
"How about... my place?" replied Kylie
Eduardo was surprised by this reaction, neither of them had ever had dinner at the others' apartment.
"Uh... Sure!" replied Eduardo, with an unsure smile.
As they walked home, hand in hand, Kylie stole some glances at her Eduardo. As she looked at him, she knew that as they grew closer, their lives would be changed forever. Forever and for the better, she hoped.
Date: Thursday, July 20, 2000
Time: 6:30am EST
The sunlight crept in through the window of Kylie Griffin's bedroom reaching her closed eyelids and focusing onto her retina, waking her.
Her eyes closed tightly, trying to block the sunlight as an involuntary response. Then as she regained consciousness, she opened her eyes and rolled over. When she did she saw Eduardo sleeping peacefully beside her. She looked at the clock on her nightstand, it's LED display read "6:31 AM". She didn't want to wake Eduardo, he was resting so peacefully... but she knew they had to be at the Firehouse in less than half an hour.
"Eduardo..." she said, softly, into his ear as she gently shook him.
He stirred slightly as he began to awake. He then rolled over, only to be staring into those big, beautiful, green eyes of hers.
"Good morning," she said, with a smile.
"Mmmmm, what a night. What time is it?" asked Eduardo.
"It's 6:31," she replied.
"You wanna take a shower first?" asked Eduardo.
"No, that's OK, you can go."
"You sure?"
"Uh huh."
Eduardo got out of bed, covering Kylie back up after he left, and walked to the bathroom, disrobing as he went.
Time: 7:03am EST
The team met at the lobby where they found Janine at her desk.
"Where's Egon?" asked Roland.
"He's in his lab, he's been in there all night," Janine replied.
"Thanks Janine," Roland said.
The entire team gathered in Egon's lab to learn what he had found, only to find him asleep at his bench. He had been up all night, and apparently his body had given out on him and he had given in to sleep. Kylie shook him slightly and he began to awaken. Suddenly he jolted upright as he became fully awake. He looked around and then realized his glasses were severely crooked. After adjusting them he looked around and quickly realized where he was and what he was supposed to be doing.
"I'm sorry, I was up all night," Egon apologized.
"That's OK. What did you find?" asked Kylie.
"The readings that you took, they weren't of just any ghost. As it appears my worst fears have come true. A new breed of ghosts is emerging, a breed that isn't made up of ectoplasm. Look at this breakdown of your readings, do you notice anything unusual?" asked Egon.
"The spectrum... all the power divisions are equal," stated Roland.
"Exactly. That's because usually, ghosts use the higher powers to control the ectoplasm that makes them physical beings. This ghost is pure psychokinetic energy, and thus is invisible and invincible. The throwers have no matter to pull on and the trap has nothing to contain," stated Egon.
"Why don't all ghosts do this, not take on an ectoplasmic form?" asked Kylie.
"Because ectoplasm and PK energy are like opposite poles on an magnet, they attract. This ghost isn't like other ghosts, it has a different polarity of PK energy and thus repels ectoplasm," replied Egon.
"But, if we can't see it, and the blasters are useless, how do we capture this ghoulie?" asked Garrett.
"I have been half-expecting something like this, and have designed and partially built a device that can take the consciousness of a human and change it into PK energy, thus the user could confront the demon. Then using the mass-maker gloves we can give the demon substance and make it trappable. Also, since the PK energy is negatively charged in this demon, the PK energy should act the same as ordinary ectoplasm after being touched by the gloves. There is a problem though," said Egon.
"Of course there is," said Garrett, with a sigh.
"First, the machine needs to be finished, Roland and I can take care of that, but there is a bigger problem. Only a person with a strong mind and body will be able to successfully make the transfer and be able to return to their body. If you're not strong enough, one of two things can happen. Either the transfer just won't work at all and no harm is done, or the transfer will work but the person won't have enough strength to return to their body," stated Egon.
"That's another thing, what happens to your body when you leave it?" asked Kylie.
"Well, the brain stem will take over all the vital functions, so your heart will continue to beat and you will continue to breathe, but you will be brain dead. Your 'soul' as some people call it would have left your body to become pure PK energy. However you should be able to return to your body and regain control as if nothing happened," replied Egon.
"Well, let's get to work on that device," stated Roland.
"Right. First things first," replied Egon.
Time: 7:38pm EST
Roland and Egon had been working on the "consciousness displacement device", as Egon had dubbed it, all day and were almost finished. The rest of the team were all waiting, impatiently, in the rec room.
Then Roland and Egon emerged from the lab.
"OK, we're ready for a test run, who wants to volunteer?" asked Egon of the team.
"I will," Garrett eagerly volunteered.
"OK Garrett, and the rest of you, please follow me to my lab." said Egon.
Time: 7:40pm EST
"Please sit down in that chair, Garrett," Egon said, pointing to a chair attached to a rather bulky machine. "Don't worry, Garrett. This is only to see if you are strong enough for a transfer, and it will run a simulation to make sure it will work correctly. So you are in no danger whatsoever," stated Egon.
Egon lowered a small cap, with thousands of wires coming out of it, onto Garrett's head. He went to the control panel of the large machine and pressed several keys.
The machine began to hum as data started flashing across the screen. Egon frowned when he saw the results.
"I'm afraid that your mind isn't strong enough to withstand the transfer," Egon said.
"What?! There must be some mistake," Garrett replied.
"I'm afraid not." He turned to Kylie. "Kylie, did you see what I did to run the test?" he asked.
"Yes, why?" Kylie replied.
"I want you to run the test on me next," said Egon.
"OK, Egon," Kylie replied.
Egon then sat in the chair and lowered the cap upon his head. Kylie pressed the same keys that Egon had. She was a fast learner, and the data she saw was also not promising.
"Egon, you should take a look at this," she said.
Egon got up to look at the data and said, "Just as I thought, my body is too weak to withstand the transfer. Who wants to try next?"
"I'll go next." said Roland.
Roland got the same results as Egon, and so did Kylie. Their minds were strong enough but their bodies couldn't stand the abuse the transfer would put them through.
"Eduardo, it appears that you are our last hope." said Egon.
"Oh great. We're doomed," said Garrett.
"Don't underestimate THIS pachuco, Rollerboy!" Eduardo said, to Garrett.
Eduardo sat down in the chair and lowered the cap onto his head. The machine again started to hum as it scanned his brainwave patterns to see if he was able to withstand the transfer. They discovered he was.
Egon quickly ran a simulation to see if the displacement mechanism worked. It did and everything went smoothly.
"OK, Eduardo. The tests show that you are OKed for consciousness displacement, and the machine works perfectly. Are you ready?" asked Egon.
"I'm ready." replied Eduardo.
"Come back safely, Eduardo. I'll be waiting for you." said Kylie.
He took one last look into her emerald eyes, she was on the verge of tears. He was sorry to leave her like this, but he knew it had to be done.
He closed his eyes and the machine came to full power. What the machine was doing was completely unseen except for the display telling the progress of the transfer.
Eduardo's vital signs and brainwave patterns were constantly monitored. As more and more of his consciousness left his body, the weaker and weaker his brainwaves got. When the transfer was complete, he was brain dead, but his heart was still beating and he was still breathing.
Egon got out a PKE meter, it was registering a heavy level of energy from directly above them, the spectrum readout in a similar shape to the ghost they had encountered earlier. It had worked.
"Eduardo, You should be able to see and hear me, although not in a way you are used to since you don't have eyes or ears anymore," said Egon, to the space around them.
"Yeah, I can see and hear all of you," Eduardo replied.
"How can he speak without vocal cords or a mouth?" asked Roland.
"His mind is using his PKE body the same as his real one, he can control the vibration of air molecules just as his vocal cords and mouth did," replied Egon.
Suddenly Kylie jumped, and let out a little scream for no visible reason. "EDUARDO!" she exclaimed, with a smile.
"Sorry, Kylie. You're too cute to resist!" replied Eduardo.
"Egon, I'm feeling a strange pulling sensation. What is that?" asked Eduardo.
"I put the other pure PKE ghost's frequency in the computer so that you can home in on it easily. Go towards the source of the pulling, we will follow you with the mass-maker gloves at the ready," Egon replied.
"OK, follow me," said Eduardo.
"We can use the PKE meter to keep track of you. Kylie, bring the gloves with you," Egon ordered.
"Got them right here, Egon," Kylie replied.
"All right, let's get this ghoulie!" Garrett exclaimed.
Time: 8:14pm EST
Egon, Roland, Kylie and Garrett had been following Eduardo in the Ecto-1 for 10 minutes now and so far they had no noticeable increase in PKE activity, besides Eduardo.
It was rather disorienting following something that they couldn't see, and sometimes they missed a turn and Eduardo had to wait for them to catch up. His PKE body allowed him to see a 360 degree view of the world, he could see and hear everything, but despite this, he would much prefer to be back in his own body holding Kylie tight.
The pulling sensation was starting to get noticeably stronger, they were getting closer. He wondered if he would be able to defeat it, with no proton pack and no help from his friends. It was the first time he had put all his effort into something that he might fail at, except his admission to Kylie. Something told him that he couldn't be defeated, despite all his fears he was confident that he would win.
The moment of truth was upon him. The pulling was getting very strong. It was close, very close.
"HA HA HA! You think you can defeat ME?" asked a deep raspy voice. "I don't think, I know," Eduardo retorted.
They didn't actually see each other, at least, not how we comprehend vision. It was more of a different sense, like touch. They knew where the other was and what they had to do to defeat the other. Their energy fields began to mix, Eduardo pushed hard, trying to get him into the mass-maker gloves that Kylie had activated below. The ghost fought back with near equal strength. Eduardo was weakening, he couldn't hold out much longer.
Then he looked to her. Her eyes straining to see *anything*... waiting for some kind of sign that he had won. He looked at her midnight black hair flowing upward through the energy being released from the gloves. She was beautiful, she always had been, and he couldn't bear never to be able to touch her with his own flesh again.
He felt his strength returning, fed by his love for Kylie. He pushed the demon toward the gloves.
"What do you think you're doing? You can't destroy me, even if you do defeat me!" the ghost said.
"You'll see," Eduardo replied.
Then he reached the gloves. As soon as the ghost got close enough for the gloves to effect it, Eduardo quickly pulled away from the ghost.
"Wha... What's happening?!" the ghost said in confusion.
"You are about to enter your new temporary home," Garrett said as he drew his proton gun and aimed it at the now solid entity.
"NOOOOOO!! You can't!" the ghost screamed.
He fired. The ghost was easily caught in the streams. The others joined in the onslaught, and Kylie threw the trap under the ghost. As it got sucked into the trap, the last thing it saw was the night sky being blocked out by the closing doors of the trap. It would be the last thing it ever saw.
The team cheered, all except for Kylie. She was terrified that Eduardo wouldn't be able to re-enter his body in his weakened state. The only one who noticed was Eduardo, unable to comfort her with his touch. He wanted to return to his body, now.
"Uh, guys. I'd like to go back into my body now," Eduardo stated.
"Oh, of course, Eduardo. I'm sorry, how inconsiderate of us," Egon apologized.
"That's OK, I just want to get back," Eduardo replied.
Time: 8:37pm EST
The team had returned to Egon's lab and a PKE meter read Eduardo's presence in the room.
"OK, Eduardo. All you have to do is let the machine pull you back in. Then, when you're back in your body just open your eyes," Egon instructed.
"OK, Egon," Eduardo replied.
Egon activated the machine's reverse function. After humming a few seconds, the PKE meter died down as Eduardo's PKE consciousness got sucked back through the machine into his body.
Seconds felt like minutes to Kylie, as she watched and waited for some sign that he was alive.
But... nothing happened. His brainwaves were nil, he was brain dead.
All this she couldn't take, she broke down and collapsed on his body and sobbed.
"Eduardo. Please don't leave me. Please don't leave me, EDUARDO!" she said, as she broke out into sobs again.
The rest of the team just watched in silence, not noticing the needles on the brainwave analyzer. One of them twitched slightly. Slowly his brainwaves were returning to normal, but no one noticed. Then his eyes twitched, and he opened them to see Kylie crying, clutching his body.
He wrapped his arm around her and held her tightly. Her eyes snapped open, as she realized what had just happened.
Looking into his handsome, brown eyes and seeing her Eduardo was back, she kissed him full and deep. The sudden banishment of intense emotional pain that had just occurred had overloaded her emotions and she was laughing and crying at the same time.
"Eduardo. Oh Eduardo, you came back to me," Kylie cried.
"I would never leave you. Not now, not ever," Eduardo replied as he stroked her hair, comforting her.
"Apparently the machine must take quite a while to transfer consciousness back into the body it belongs to," Egon concluded.
Eduardo began to stand, still weak from the fight. He almost lost his balance but Kylie helped him. She never let go of him for a second, and he never let go of her. They felt closer than they ever had before.
"Are you all right, Eduardo?" Kylie asked.
"I'm fine, just weak from the fight with that ghoulie," replied Eduardo.
"You should go home and rest, Eduardo. We caught the demon, the threat is over. You deserve some sleep," Egon said.
"I have no argument with that," Eduardo responded.
"C'mon Eduardo, I'll walk with you," Kylie said, softly.
With Kylie supporting some of his weight, they walked out of the firehouse. It was not appropriate to judge her by her size, she was extremely strong and was having no difficulty helping Eduardo walk toward their home. They had decided to live together in Kylie's apartment. Eduardo was only half unpacked, but the way their concentration usually wandered when they were alone in the same room, they never could finish the tasks at hand.
Time: 8:53pm EST
Egon pushed the trap into the containment unit. Pulling the lever the ghost was sucked into the containment unit, trapped for all eternity. Roland and Garrett had gone home, leaving Egon and Janine alone in the Firehouse. Then he heard soft footsteps coming from the stairs, as if someone was trying to sneak up on him, but wasn't trying very hard.
He turned around just in time to see Janine in mid-air jumping onto him. He fell to the floor with Janine on top of him. It was a surprising experience, but he enjoyed it.
"You know, we never did go on that honeymoon you promised," Janine said.
"I know, I've been trying to plan something special," Egon replied.
"I have an idea," she ran her finger down Egon's chest, "why don't we go up to your lab and... do a little research." Janine said, as she smiled.
Normally Egon would begin to get flustered and stutter in this situation, but ever since that eye-opening experience of almost 8 months ago, he had begun to handle these situations better.
"Sounds good to me," Egon said. He took Janine in his arms and kissed her deeply and gently like he wanted to so many times, but never felt the moment was right. Then they went upstairs together, not to emerge until the sun had risen once more.